“We would like Greece to extradite those who clearly staged a coup against our nation. We respect the judiciary’s decision, but we do not want these putschists to strike a blow to Turkish-Greek relations,” Yildirim said at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras in Athens.

In May, a Greek court blocked a second extradition request by Turkey for the final two soldiers among a group of eight who fled to Greece following the coup attempt, drawing an angry rebuke from Ankara.